The Greatest Love
by JillyBean09
Summary: There are good loves, and there are great loves. Our heroes must come to terms and decide whether they will sacrifice for the great love, or merely be content with the good love.
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Greatest Love

Author: Jillian

Summary: This is really more of a teaser, thought I might put it out and see what kind  
of a reaction it receives. The pairing is pretty obvious, and it is going to contain  
romance, humor, angst, drama, and hopefully a love scene if I can work up  
my courage.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot and the idea of the book  
"The Greatest Love," along with it's quotes, even though those are pretty  
generic...

Author's Notes: Er, enjoy?

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Kagome sighed as she gazed up at the blue sky, her book clutched between  
two petite hands. A line from the book appeared in her mind.

_Sometimes, the greatest love is unattainable._

She smiled sadly as she unconsciously stroked the book. She shook  
her head, and kept reading.

"_Sometimes, the greatest love is unattainable. There are those who  
spend every waking moment __feeling the utter truth of this. Some  
come to the conclusion that there is no great love, that there is only  
mediocrity. And in this mediocrity they are content. And then there  
are those who realize their great love, __and spend every waking  
moment, pining, crying on the-" _

"Wench, what are you doing?"

Kagome slammed the book shut as she lifted her head to see an  
irritated Inu Yasha bearing down on her. She got up quickly, shaking  
the grass off her skirt.

"N-nothing, Inu Yasha. Nothing important."

She glanced at the book wistfully. Inu Yasha snorted in disgust.

"Whatever. The wind brings a tale of a massacre, two days north of here.  
As good a place as any to continue our shard-hunting."

Kagome heaved a sigh.

"Sure. Let me go down to the village and pick up my stuff. Have the others  
been informed?"

"Keh. No. Do it while you're down there. I've got something to do in  
the meantime."

Saying so, he took off towards the west, heading into the dying sun,  
casting a bloody taint to his silver hair.

Kagome ground her teeth angrily as she began the walk down to the village,  
away from Inu Yasha's forest.

_Away from Inu Yasha. _

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They decided to set up camp down by the river that night, so as to get  
a cooler breeze. The days were getting longer and hotter, leaving them  
all exhausted from the long day's trek. The small group had begun to change.  
No longer as tight-knit, they all sat, bereft of one another, as though miles  
away from the next person, although almost right beside them.

Kagome sat, with Shippou asleep in her lap, reading. Inu Yasha sat up in a  
tree, as was custom, looking out across the river, as though straining for a  
glimpse of something through the sweltering darkness. Sango sat with her  
head bent, polishing her weapon feverishly, while Kirara lazed at her side.  
And Miroku, well, Miroku was bored.

He missed the earlier days. When had they started to drift? He gazed into  
the same area of sky that Kagome had stared into earlier that very day, as  
though trying to divine answers from it. What had happened to the old  
camaraderie? He found that he missed the human contact, not this  
monotonous association with people he once felt he knew so well.

_Especially..._

His gaze softened as it came to rest on Kagome through the dying embers.  
He missed her empathy, her understanding. There was no one to share  
his worries with now. He stared broodingly at his hand, and then lifted his  
gaze. And met with Kagome's. She gave a shy smile, and waved. He smiled  
back and, encouraged, got up to sit closer by her. Inu Yasha, with his  
sensitive hearing, turned to see what was going on, "Keh"'d and returned  
to his fascinating study of the scenery. Miroku plopped down next to her  
with a roguish grin.

"Hi, Kagome-san." He whispered.

She grinned back. "Hey, Miroku-sama."

"May I inquire to what you are reading?" He asked curiously.

She glanced at the book she held tightly in her hands. Her cheeks flushed  
lightly. Miroku took all this in with puzzlement.

"It's called..." She looked around to make sure no one was listening.  
"It is called "_The Greatest Love."_"

"Ah, Kagome-san, this book sounds _delightful_. Tell me more."

He smiled in an innocent manner. She looked at him suspiciously.

"Th-there is really nothing more to tell. It's a book about the greatest love."

She flushed once more as she said this, and his eyes twinkled.

"I see."

_Though really, he did not.  
_

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Like I said, this is more like a test run. Reviews would be nice. Love you all!

-J.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: The Greatest Love

Author: Jillian

Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer, duh.

Author Comments (because I say so): Yay, I updated! This chapter might seem a little bit rushed,  
but when you have a clingy baby who just got his shots the other day, well... So sue me. Wait, don't!  
It might be a little out of character, but this is my story, not yours! So nyah. Hahha. Okay. Stupid remarks done.

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_"Can you imagine the end of eternity? Close your eyes and picture darkness. A void. Can you picture yourself  
spending this long with the person you have chosen? The person you dream of? What does one say to the other  
for the rest of their lives and beyond?"_

Kagome looked up from her book. "-and then I used my Sengoku and ripped the damned thing to shreds!"

She blinked. Inu Yasha must be telling another battle story to Sango. It seemed that was all they ever talked  
about these days. She sighed and rolled her eyes. It was either being in a battle, or hearing about one. She  
glanced over at Miroku, who was engaged in conversation with Shippou. "-and when you see her eyes soften,  
that is when you move in for the kill. Grab her hands, look directly into her eyes, and say-"

Kagome's mouth dropped open in shock. "**Miroku-sama!**" s he shrieked.

Miroku started guiltily, then meandering over to her, put his hands over hers and said. "I've dreamed of the  
moment you would scream my name to the sky." He grinned roguishly and winked at her.

She put two hands to her burning cheeks, appalled. They both glanced over to where Sango and Inu Yasha  
sat, now in deep discussion over where a rogue hamster demon had last been spotted and the odds of it carrying  
a shard within it. Neither one even glanced their way. Miroku and Kagome sighed. Kagome glanced their way a  
second time. Nothing. He was as much into the conversation as the hanyou would get.

Any female but her, he would talk to. It figured.

Miroku looked down at Kagome's withdrawn features. There had to be some way to break this wretchedly  
awkward silence. He glanced around. Nothing. Shippou coloring, Inu Yasha and Sango talking about-something,  
Kagome's little green skirt, her shapely legs crossed to where they disappeared beneath said green skirt,  
whereupon appeared- that strange book of hers.

"Ah, oi, Kagome-sama, I see you are still reading that same book. How goes it?" He inquired.

Kagome blinked and turned a light shade of pink, as she always did whenever he happened to mention this book.  
She hugged it to her chest. Lucky book, he thought. "Wellll-" She thought about it, tugging at her lower lip.  
"It's getting a little interesting. Strange, but interesting."

He nodded as though there was nothing more intriguing in the world. "Yes?"

She shrugged. "I don't think a monk such as yourself would be terribly interested in such a book."

He frowned. That was a bit uncalled for. Why, he, who knew the art of women better than most. A bit  
of a blow for Miroku-sama's manhood, there.

"Uhm, Kagome?" A voice broke through the awkward silence. Ahh, blessed Sango.  
"Would you and Houshi-sama be so kind as to fetch a bit more wood for the fire?"

Kagome leapt to her feet, eager to get away from the stifling atmosphere surrounding the little campsite. Miroku did the same.

"Of course, Sango-chan! Miroku-sama, lead the way!"

Inu Yasha broke his gaze from the fire, and glared at them. Or rather, Miroku. Miroku caught the hint.  
Caught it, and dismissed it in much the same instance. Inu Yasha appeared satisfied though, and returned to his brooding.

Kagome and Miroku walked slowly through the wooded area, talking about such mundane things such as the  
weather, picking up sticks as they went. Miroku kept glancing at Kagome, who appeared to be on autopilot.  
Enough was enough. "Kagome-sama, not to be rude, but what did you mean when you said that I would not be  
terribly interested in your book?" This statement, so innocently made by a spaced-out Kagome, had poked and  
prodded the monk ever since she had uttered it. What was she implying? That he did not know love? Pah, love  
was physical, called into exististence by a man and a woman's passion for each other.

Kagome started, and blushed. "I truly meant no disrespect, Houshi-sama." She said formally, and stopped and  
bowed to him. "I apologize for any trouble." She said it vaguely, as if it were not true.

Miroku frowned. "Kagome." Her name, it struck her like a bolt, rooting her to the earth where she stood.  
"What has been the matter with you? I am concerned. Ever since you started reading that book, you have been in  
another world. This place does not exist to you. You look through us, your friends, **me_-_**as if we were not here."  
He paused angrily, upset with himself for showing such emotions.

She did not know what to say under the face of such accusations, true though they were. "I-I-..."

"I try to ask you things, try to involve you in conversation, but you give me blank stares, and insulting answers. You are neither here nor there."

Kagome sank to the ground. She slumped forward, her usually tense features relaxed into sorrow.  
"I don't know what to do, Miroku. I am torn, as you say. Here, I could suffocate under the silence, and the accusing glares,  
and the hateful words! In my world, I am forced to lie to my friends, my family. Everyone thinks I have some freak  
disease every week, and every time I go back, I am weighed down by all my stupid homework, and every time I start,  
Inu Yasha appears, yells, and drags me back, where it starts all over again. And Inu Yasha..." She trailed off,  
exhausted by her outburst. She continued in a low voice. "Inu Yasha... and... Kikyou... I got that book at this  
little drug store on the corner. I thought it was just a silly romance novel. But it was more... I read it, and I compare.  
I find I can't pull away. And perhaps if I study it long enough, Inu Yasha will-"

Miroku plopped down beside her angrily.

"Will what, Kagome?"

"Will...care for me."

"Why is it that you must do all this work, Kagome? Why are **you** the unworthy one? Why can't you see that you  
are so special? You, the heart of this strange group. There are so many others who could use your devotions.  
Other's who would not take advantage of such heartrending loyalty. Not like **him**."

Miroku spit the last word out as though it offended him, which it did at the moment. Inu Yasha wasted a perfectly  
wonderful girl on the dead? Why should he get her all to himself? Kagome wanted love. Well, he resolved. He  
would give it to her. That was that. His mind was made up.

A small whisper made it's way to his ears. "Like who?" Kagome sighed.

"Like me." The houshi whispered in her ear.

Her head snapped up to gaze in wide-eyed wonder as he bent down and placed the gentlest of kisses  
upon her lips, as light as the wind caressing them. She continued to stare at him as he leaned back once more  
and rubbed his thumb across her cheek.

"Let yourself lean upon others once in a while, Kagome." On his lips, which she had just known intimately,  
her name sounded like a prayer. "You are indeed deserving."

He stood up and whispered to himself. _"Although I am not."_

She stood up as well and nervously dusted debris off her legs. Miroku held his hand out to her, and she  
took it shyly, without meeting his gaze. It was a long and silent walk back to the campsite. But no longer was  
the air stale with harsh tension.

_No_. Now it was a different kind of tension.

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Rahaha. Go me! Okay, reviews are welcome. Good reviews, please. Bad reviews will unleash my delicate hormonal state and cause me  
to do something drastic, like eat a lot of chocolate. G'night! -J


	3. Chapter 3

Title: _The Greatest Love_

Author: Jillian

Comments: Hoo-hah. Baby crying in my ear. Enjoy! And I don't own it. :(

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Why had he picked now? What had possessed him to suddenly come over gallant and sweep Kagome  
off her feet, you might ask. The simple answer was, because he wanted it. For the longest time, he had  
mulled it over in his brain, weighing the benefits against the consequences (i.e. Inu Yasha's claws.). It was  
very unlike him, to be sure, to be so aggressive. And why, you might ask, would he pursue her when death  
was surely a constant companion? Well, he was optimistic. They were close to finding Naraku. If he was  
vanquished, they could celebrate by, well...

And if not, well, he could go to his death without regret.

So, he supposed, it was a win-win situation, although he hoped it would not end in his untimely demise. He  
glanced at the object of his thoughts. She walked sprightly, carrying Shippou and talking to Sango. Her skirt  
flounced playfully, teasing him. He sighed lightly. As if she had heard him, her back stiffened, and she glanced  
back at him, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. He tossed her a debonair grin and winked roguishly. She blushed  
and swiftly turned back around, tossing her head like a nervous mare. This thought led down one road and his  
imagination took hold.

Now, Inu Yasha wasn't terribly bright, but he wasn't what you would call stupid. He had seen the strange looks  
pass between the monk and Kagome. And a couple of nights ago, when they had come back from gathering  
firewood, they had acted strange, never touching, always looking. The monk's scent had been aroused, but that  
was commonplace. Inu Yasha paused in his musings to snort. _Pervert._ Kagome, though, was troubling. She had  
been stranger than usual. Oh, she was still the same talkative, laughing girl that she had been, but something was off.  
He couldn't put his claw on it, but he bet it had something to do with the monk. Ooh, he would be keeping an eye on  
him alright.

A sudden spike in Kagome's scent made his head whip around. She was talking to Sango, but there was a receding  
blush and a certain tightness in her gait that made him suspicious. He glared around for the monk and found him walking  
jauntily along a few feet behind the girls, whistling a tune under his breath. _What the __**fuck **__was going on?!_

Kagome could hear him whistling. _Stupid pervert!_ She could just _feel_ her face burning up again. How-how could he do...  
what...ever it was that he...was doing?? Yeah! What was he doing?! _I bet this is just another one of his "bear my child"  
schemes_. She scowled. _Yeah, I bet that's it!_ She found her face getting redder and redder by the second. _That was all it  
was?! What a jerk, leading me on like that! That-that-rrrgh._ Sango looked at her in concern. "Uhm, Kagome-chan, are  
you alright?"

Inu Yasha whipped his head around so fast his hair smacking him across the face.

_I hope he gets whiplash._ Miroku thought uncharitably.

Kagome flushed a dull red. "Oh! I'm fine, just fine. Why do you ask?"

Sango shrugged. "Hm, I don't know, you just seemed a bit off."

Inu Yasha snorted and muttered something under his breath.

Kagome glared at him and smiled sweetly at Sango. "No, Sango-chan, I'm fine, really. Just...school work, that kind  
of thing. You know."

Sango just smiled and nodded. No. No she didn't really know.

Miroku slid smoothly between the two girls. "Oh, but dear Kagome-sama. Are you sure it's not something else? Stress?  
Tension? Pent-up-_frustrations?_" He asked, drawling out the last word.

Kagome's lips tightened as if she had sucked on a lemon and she unconsciously squeezed poor little Shippo-chan until  
he squeaked in his sleep.

"I-I- you-"She stuttered in her fury. "You-you-_gah!_ **Inu Yasha! Osuwari!"** she squawked, and stalked off in a huff.

"**What the fuck did **_**I **_**do??"** Inu Yasha wailed into the dirt before giving way to an obligatory snooze, the polite  
way to say 'unconsciousness' in front of the hanyou.

Miroku held his sleeve up to his mouth as though he were merely wiping away something-leftover drool perhaps?  
But no, it was to hide the small smirk that threatened to overcome his face. _Ah, not only beautiful, but feisty as well._

The monk left Sango and Shippou poking at Inu Yasha, waiting for him to regain consciousness, in order to stalk his  
reluctant (to say the least) prey. Said prey was thundering down the path at a frightful speed, leaving Miroku to follow  
the trail of dust stirred in her wake.

"Stupid monk! Pervert! Who does he think he is? Kissing me and- and being nice- and- _kissing _me. Getting me all  
confused. **It's not nice, do you hear?! **Stupid, stupid- just stupid! Idiotic, moronic, dull witted, _nincompoop!_"

The words echoed far and wide. '_poop. pooop. pooop.' _

Kagome stopped the grinding over her foot into the poor foliage (imagining that it was, of course, a certain someone's  
face.) and listened as the last of her words repeated back to her. A crackling in the bushes made her whirl around.

A frazzled looking Miroku emerged from beneath. "Did someone just say the word '_poop_'?" He asked, wrinkling his  
nose in faux-confusion. He watched in delight as Kagome's face lit up like the sunrise. And not in the  
"oh-here-is-my-lover" light, but the "oh-why-did-he-have-to-hear-that-now" light. Still, it was nice to see her face  
light up with **something**. His smile grew tender as he walked towards her.

Kagome saw the look on his face. "What-what are you doing? Stop looking at me with those words-  
I mean-don't come closer. Stop!"

She thrust out her hands with her eyes squeezed shut. They reopened in surprise when her hands came in contact  
with something hard. (No. Not that. Yet.) His hands came up and captured hers, keeping them tight against his chest.  
"Why, Kagome-sama, whatever do you mean?" he asked, silkily. She blinked. He was pretty close. And he was pretty  
up close. She could see small silver flecks in those violet eyes. She gazed at him with a stricken look, like a deer  
caught in a pair of headlights. His hands released hers to slide down her arms, which hung limply by her sides, having been liberated.

_Closer...closer..._ He was almost there. Could almost feel her lips. His cursed hand flexed. _NO. _He ordered it.  
_Stay put._ He was so close. So, so close.

_**Crash.**_

"-and so then I said "Who the fuck do you think you are, you creep?"

Kagome started and with wide, panicked eyes, shrieked and shoved Miroku away, jumping back as if she had been  
shocked. Off-balance, he stumbled backwards, only to trip over a small rock, and land rear-first in the dirt.

Inu Yasha, impeccable timing that he had, crashed through the bushes faster as he heard Kagome shriek. Sango,  
riding on his back, spluttered as she caught a mouthful of leaves. "Augh, slow down you crazy hanyou! This is  
the first and last time I ever take you up on this offer!"

Kirara mewed in frightened agreement, digging her claws into the hanyou's back.

With the grace of a hippo, he blundered through the underbrush, ripping his sword out of it's sheath, almost  
decapitating Sango in the process, and shouted "**What? What is it?! Let me **_**kill **_**it!"** Whipping his head around,  
so much so that Miroku was surprised it didn't fall right off his neck, he strained to catch a glimpse of the hidden  
foe, waving his sword around wildly.

Kagome had the grace to turn a bright red. Again. She caught Inu Yasha's attention and, pointing in front of her to an  
imaginary object upon the ground, said in a shaky voice, "_S-sp-spid-er?_"

Miroku gave a humongous snort, and glanced at Kagome from his undignified position on his posterior. She bit her  
lip, seeing the humor in it all. Sango stood to the side, confused. And Inu Yasha, was, yet again, in a frothing rage.

"Stupid female. Keh! Stupid fe-KEH! Of all the gosh-damned ridiculous..." Muttering furiously to himself, he hopped  
up into a nearby tree, spewing random obscenities toward crazed, weak women.

As they settled into their nightly routine, Kagome and Miroku would occasionally let out a snort of laughter,  
disguised as a cough. When asked about their sudden bout of hacking, they merely replied "Dust." And started all over  
again. Kagome looked at Miroku over the firelight after dark had settled in, her eyes twinkling with laughter and  
contentment. He gave her a quick grin and leaned back against the rock that supported him. Kagome shook her head,  
and withdrew from her backpack a now familiar sight.

"_And how do you find your emotions? Are they turbulent, but constant, tossing on a sea of multitudinous  
platitudes and woes? Or are they as changeable as the direction of the wind? Do you want to fight? Do you  
want to laugh? To find humor in the ridiculous? For that is a good sign."_

"In order for love to work, you must laugh."

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Yay! I finally finished another chapter! Go me! I love you guys that reviewed! You kept me going, slowly but surely. Just like Miroku will win Kagome's heart! Well, actually, not _quite._ Heh. Heh heh. ;)


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